Not less than 143 youths drawn from 15 local government areas in Edo State have received support from Governor Godwin Obaseki to drive financial inclusion with the provision of initial start-up capital to run mobile banking services in rural communities.

The empowerment scheme is an initiative of Edo State Skills Development Agency (EdoJobs) in partnership with First Bank to drive its First Monie package and provide financial services to residents in hard-to-reach rural communities in the state.

EdoJobs Director, Entrepreneurship and Job Placement, Mr. Samuel Omomoh, in a chat with journalists, said that the scheme is targeted at youths, 143 of whom have received start-up capital to commence operations in their communities.

He said the support came after beneficiaries resident in Akoko-Edo, Owan East, Owan West, Ovia North East, Ovia South West, Estako West, Estako East, among others, completed training on how to provide mobile banking services.

He said, “15 local councils are covered in the scheme. We will also roll out soon in Egor, Ikpoba Okha and Oredo local councils. The beneficiaries were credited and activated this week. They also received Point of Sale (PoS) machines to aid their banking transactions.”

He added that the state government is keen on keeping youths engaged, noting that the initiative will deepen banking operations in the affected communities and ensure that more people are provided with financial services without having to spend so much on travels to main towns or the city centre.

He added that the First Monie initiative would also open up space for more economic activities, noting that with increased empowerment programmes going on in the state, it was only necessary to ensure that the number of the unbanked in the society is drastically reduced.